I saw this on Twitter… and wonder why none of my English teachers were ever this eloquent?
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words.
Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become
monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is
getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record.
The ear demands some variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music.
Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a
harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of
medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader
is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable
length, a sentence that bums with energy and builds with all
the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of
the cymbals-sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long
sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t
just write words. Write music.
–Gary Provost
